A1 · Spurnarorð · Question words
Spurnarorð — Question words
Learn the question. Choose the word. Give a reason.
Eight expressions open almost every beginner question in Icelandic — hvað, hver, hvar, hvaðan, hvaða, hvernig, hvenær and af hverju — and one more, af því að, answers the last of them. The question expression comes first, then the verb, then the subject: Hvar ert þú?
The nine expressions
The chart
How to read it
- Eight of the nine ask a question. Af því að is the odd one out — it answers one.
- The question expression comes first, then the verb, then the subject: Hvar ert þú?
- When hver is itself the subject, no extra pronoun is added: Hver kemur?
- Hvaða always has a noun after it, and never changes its own form: Hvaða búð er opin?
- Af hverju is two words and af því að is three. Learn each as one unit.
Choosing the expression
Good to know
Names use hvað
Hvað heitir þú? is the naming pattern — literally “what are you called?” Use hvað with heita, not hver.
Where, not where to
Hvar asks where something is. “Where to” is hvert, which belongs in a later lesson — the drills here never want it.
Origin
Hvaðan kemur þú? A full answer normally uses frá and a country name. Only the question expression is tested here.
hvaða + noun
Hvaða never changes, but the noun after it still takes the form the sentence needs. These examples all use the first case: Hvaða búð er opin?
Description, not place
Hvernig er veðrið? asks what something is like. It is not asking where anything is.
Why and because
Af hverju er Jón heima? — Af því að hann er veikur. The answer clause keeps ordinary subject–verb order.
Full-chart practice
Write the Icelandic for each English meaning. Check one row, or check every row you have filled in — empty rows are left out. Not part of your drill scores.
Chart drill · 100 questions
100 scored questions built from the nine chart rows, shuffled: eleven turns each, and twelve for af því að. You see the English meaning and give the Icelandic.
Sentences
Each sentence is missing one question expression — or, in the last group, the because phrase. Choose it or type it, then press Check answer. The English is always shown, because it is what tells you which expression the sentence wants.
New practice set
Write the whole sentence
Optional and not scored. Write out the complete Icelandic sentence for the English below. Every word is checked here, not only the question expression.
Vocabulary Orðaforði
Every expression and word used in the sentences on this page. Search in Icelandic or English.
Results Niðurstöður
Chart drill and sentence scores are kept apart. Each score only describes the questions in that set. This is practice feedback, not a CEFR assessment.
Delete every saved set and score for this lesson on this device? This cannot be undone.